Australian Rates on Hold for 5th Month, Ashley Services in Board Turmoil

5:30 PM Sydney, Australia – Australian market indexes trimmed gains after the RBA kept interest rate unrevised for the fifth month in a row. Aussie dollar gained for the third day after the central bank gave no indication of additional monetary easing. Ashley Services plunged on boar turmoil.

Australian stocks opened higher but the market advance was muted after the Reserve Bank of Australia left its reference rate on hold for the fifth month in a row.

The Aussie dollar extended 3-day gain after the RBA gave no indication of additional monetary easing bias.

The seasonally adjusted merchandise trade deficit in August widened to $3.10 billion from $2.79 in July but narrowed form $3.35 in June, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

Exports in the month slipped 0.5% from the previous month to $26.51 billion while import increased 0.6% to $29.60 billion compared to $29.43 billion in July.

In a monetary policy meeting, the policy board decided to leave the cash rate unchanged at 2%, the Reserve Bank of Australia reported.

The central bank had lowered reference rate by 25 basis points each in February and May, as the economy expanded 0.2% in the second-quarter following the increase of 0.9% in the first-quarter.

Australian dollar closed at 71.27 U.S. cents and in stock trading turnover jumped to 705 billion shares worth $4.8 billion.

At close, the ASX 200 Index gained 16.90 or 0.3% to 5,167.40 and the broader All Ordinaries Index increased 14.90 to 5,199.

Veda Group Ltd increased 1.5% to $2.69 after the credit information provider said it received a revised takeover proposal from the U.S.-based rival Equifax Inc for $2.5 billion in cash from the offer of $1.7 billion on September 17.